Its time to invest in Cold Chain Infrastructure

It is now the high time for the govt of India to start investing in the cold chain solutions. The country is the highest producer of vegetables and second highest producer when it comes to the production of fruits . The food grain production has been also robust over the years. In spite of the huge growth and the huge profits earned there has been great concern in the recent years regarding the efficiency of marketing of fruits and vegetables in India. It is believed that poor linkages in the marketing channels and poor marketing infrastructure are not only leading to high and fluctuating consumer prices but also only to a small proportion of the consumer rupee reaching the farmers . There is also substantial wastage, deterioration in quality, and frequent mismatch between demand and supply spatially and over time.
Recently Over 10 lakh tonnes of food grains worth several hundred crores of rupees, which could have fed over one crore hungry people for a year, were damaged in Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns during the last one decade. The damages were suffered despite the FCI spending Rs 242 crore while trying to prevent any loss of food grains during storage. Ironically another 2.59 crore was spent just to dispose off the rotten food grains. FCI informed that 10 lakh tonnes of food grain was damaged in the godowns of government owned agency, which is responsible for procurement and distribution of food grains across the country.
The FCI informed that 1.83 lakh tonnes of wheat, 3.95 lakh tonnes of rice, 22 thousand tonnes of paddy and 110 tonnes of maize were damaged between 1997 to 2007.
The FCI said in the northern region -- UP, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi -- the damage incurred was seven lakh tonnes and the PSU spent Rs 87.15 crore to prevent the loss besides spending over Rs 60 lakh to dispose off the damaged foodgrain.
The problem has become more acute today because of rising inflation. The cost of food grains have gone up substantially . Considering this the wastages mentioned above are a matter of national shame, it is high time now that the country should start investing in the Cold Chain solutions.
Today the cold chain facilities in the country are rudimentary , the facilities are either absent , not working or not used because of inadequate information to the farmers . As a result wastages occur and tonnes of food grains which can feed millions of Indians goes to the drains year after year .
The government should look at this matter very seriously because the country can not afford the wastage of food grains at a time when all across the world there has been a shortage of production . Moreover the government’s agencies not only collect commission’s but also earn directly by selling the food grains. Therefore the current situation demands that the government should take active measure to set up an entire supply chain infrastructure of cold chain.